Moving
by ndtigs
Summary: A month after graduation, Rikki reveals to Cleo and Bella that she's moving to New Zealand because of her dad's work. Meanwhile, Zane tries to win her back. DISCONTINUED
1. Day 1 - The Plan

Rikki walked down the beach with a nostalgic expression. She was going to be leaving all of this in only a week. Her father had found work in New Zealand, and she still hadn't broke the news to Bella and Cleo. _Dad only found out three weeks ago, anyway,_ Rikki thought to herself as she slowly walked in the direction of her two best friends houses. She had thought about the move though, and decided that she would take a break year to adjust to New Zealand before going to college there. She was after all, just out of high school. Rikki walked on the right side of the pavement, and even though it was a warm, sunny day - perfect weather - she was cold. She continued nostalgically remembering every area in her town. _That's the cove where we had a picnic once. And that's Miriam's house. Remember that awful party?_ Suddenly, she felt something whiz by. She turned around, realizing that it was Zane, on a skateboard.

"What's up, Rikki-o?" he asked her with a bright smile. Rikki looked at him. His face had pure joy on it, something that Rikki hadn't seen on it since the summer before. Rikki shook her head, before answering, "What do you mean, 'what's up'? I'm moving, that's what's up."

"You're moving?" Zane said. His face quickly grew darker.

"Yeah, I'm moving. Now, will you please move out of my way?"

He didn't. "Where to? Why?"

Rikki sighed. "I'm moving to Alexandra, New Zealand. And it's because my dad got a job."

They continued walking up the sidewalk as Zane asked with a frown, "Well, can't he work in some other place?"

"No." Rikki said, shortly. "You know that he hasn't found any work here."

"Look, Rikki," Zane said, passionately looking into her eyes. "What you and I've got here is something really special. You can't just leave me!"

"Zane, nothing has been 'special' about our relationship in a year! In fact, currently, our relationship is categorized as 'common acquaintances.'"

Zane looked down. She was right. He couldn't correct the facts. "Rikki," he started. "I -"

"Oh, look," Rikki interupted him. "Here I am. Cleo's house. Bye now."

"Rikki!" Zane cried. "Rik-"

She had closed the door, but instead of walking away like he normally would have, he sat down on Cleo's porch.

* * *

"Hey, Rikki," Cleo said with a friendly smile as she welcomed her friend inside. Rikki quickly closed the door on Zane, and followed Cleo inside. "Haven't seen you in a while."

"Oh! Well, um, things have been busy." Rikki quickly said.

"What kind of things?"

"Oh, you know."

"No, I don't know," Cleo said. She stopped right in front of the door to her room.

"Well, I guess I'll have to tell you. Come on." Rikki opened Cleo's door. Inside of Cleo's bedroom was Bella, surrounded by books and magazines on the bed. Rikki glared at Cleo. She hadn't expected to have to also tell Bella right then.

"Well?" Cleo asked, impatiently. "What have you been doing?"

"What have you been doing?" Bella asked, looking up from a clothing catalog.

"Okay, okay. I came here to tell you, um, that Dad found a job..."

To this, Bella and Cleo smiled, happy for their friend's family.

"But..." Rikki continued. "It's in New Zealand, and we're moving next week."

Cleo and Bella looked astonished and upset. Rikki wrung her hands.

"Well," Bella said, trying get back her composure. "You're technically an adult. Can't you stay here?"

Rikki frowned. She had thought of that but had decided not to. "I can't, I'm sorry, guys. Dad needs me, and I don't have a job or anything here."

"Couldn't you stay with one of us?" Bella asked hopefully.

"Oh, no," Rikki said. "I'm really going."

Cleo still hadn't said anything.

"Cleo?" Bella asked, worried. "Are you alright?"

Cleo bit her lip. "Yeah, I'm good."

"Well!" Bella said, trying to keep the peace. "I guess you're moving. Need any help packing?"

Rikki smiled. She knew that Bella would be supportive of anything that she or her dad ever did, even if it included moving away. "Yeah, I do. Wanna come to my place and help out?"

"Sure," Bella answered, hopping off the bed. "Coming, Cleo?"

"No, um, I have things to do actually."

Bella and Rikki started towards Rikki's house, chatting on the way. Cleo watched. Even though she and Bella were very close, they weren't friends in the same way that she and Rikki were. But even Rikki had been more distant in the last year. When Emma had still been in their school with them, she had often pulled them closer together. But now Emma was gone, and soon Rikki would be to. Cleo was also not sure what she would be doing with the rest of her life. She'd always wanted to be a writer, but now that she was nineteen, that seemed so unrealistic. And she'd won awards for her science projects, but it just wasn't something that she could see herself doing in the future. She shook her head. _I need some fresh air_ , she thought.

Cleo walked out of her room, slipping on a pair of sandals as she reached the front door. She pulled it open, and inhaled the fresh sea breeze. _I haven't been for a swim in a while_ , she thought as she caught a whiff of the ocean. _Should I go to Mako? Or maybe that nice cove near it..._ her thoughts were suddenly interupted by a man's voice.

"Cleo," it said.

She spun around. It was Zane.

"What are you doing here, Zane," she said glaring at him. Even when he had been dating Rikki she hadn't liked him, but after he'd treated her so awfully, she wasn't even in the mood to be cordial with him.

"I wanted to ask you about Rikki," he said with a charming smile.

"Go away, Zane," Cleo said, walking away from him.

"Please Cleo," Zane said in that stupid cunning voice that Cleo hated. "I'm trying to get my girl back."

Cleo turned again. "Really?" she asked.

"Yes, really. And I need to in a week. Have you heard about..."

"Yes, I have heard that she's moving."

"Once she's gone, I won't have any chance."

"I know, I know."

"Will try and help me?"

"Okay."

Zane smiled his best smile. "Thanks Cleo, you're the best." He ran down the path, and across the street to his bright red Lamborghini. He jumped in, and sped off, waving to Cleo. She reluctantly waved back.

"Ugh!" she muttered to herself. "Now I have to help stupid Zane... at least Rikki might stay." She forgot about the swim that she'd been planning, and went back inside.


	2. Day 2 - Taking Action

"Mmmm..." Rikki murmured, rolling around in her bed. She had been awoken by the sunlight streaming into her window, and by a delicious smell coming from the kitchen. She gave a happy sigh as she pulled herself out of bed. She pulled on a blue sundress and walked into the trailer's little kitchen.

"That smells amazing, Dad," she said before noticing that her father wasn't at the stove, but sitting at the table with a newspaper.

"Thank Zane, sweetheart. He seems to have planned a big day for you," he answered, his eyes remaining on the paper.

Rikki looked towards the nook where the stove was, and saw Zane flipping pancakes. He flashed a smile at her. She glared at him, and then her father. "Dad! What's he doing here?!"

"Rikki," he warned as he looked through his glasses.

Rikki sighed, and sat down as Zane slid a stack of pancakes to her. Just as she began to reluctantly eat them, her dad abruptly stood up, saying, "better leave now. There're some errands that I need to run before we leave," thus leaving Rikki alone with Zane.

"Good morning, Rikki-o," Zane said brightly, taking her dad's chair.

When she didn't answer him, he then said with a laugh, "Well, you never were a morning person."

Once again, Rikki didn't respond.

"So, love," Zane started.

"Don't call me love," Rikki butted in.

"She speaks!" Zane jokingly exclaimed. "Anyway, I've planned quite a day for us. After this we'll go for juices at Rikki's, then a walk on the beach, then a movie, then a picnic at Mako. I've already prepared everything."

"Zane..."

"Oh, how're your pancakes? I've never used this recipe before."

She ignored him. "Do we really have to? Zane, I've still got a lot of packing to do, and there are some things that I want to do before leaving town."

"No worries! No worries. We can do all of that tomorrow. Today's for me and you, not for packing."

"Yes, yes, but I hope you realize that I'll be leaving in six days now."

Zane just smiled.

* * *

"Welcome back," Zane said to Rikki as he pulled the beaded curtain on the door to the cafe open for her.

"I was never gone," she answered with a smile. The rest of breakfast had gone considerably better than the beginning had been. The two had nostalgically discussed their high school years together, and talked about what they wanted their futures to look like. Rikki was planning on majoring in woman's studies at university, and eventually writing about them. Zane wanted to go to law school, but instead of becoming a lawyer like his father had, he wanted to continue being an entrepreneur.

They sat down in a booth in the back.

"So... New Zealand, huh?" Zane asked her with his signature smirk.

"Yep," Rikki answered, popping the 'p'.

"What are you going to do there?"

"Well, I'm planning on taking a gap year for this year, and over that gap I'll be applying to colleges and helping settle in," she said. As she talked, Zane moved his head closer and closers to her face. "And, of course, I'll have to help dad move in... wait, what are you doing?"

Zane had moved his face so close to her that Rikki had finally realized that he was trying to kiss her. Rikki laughed it off. "Not now, Zane," she said as she pushed his head away.

"But Rikki," Zane said with little sign that he had just been rejected. "We're getting so close again."

"Zane, you only started talking to me again yesterday! And I've been talking to you for less than an hour. Now!" she said, jumping out of the booth. "What were you saying about that walk on the beach?"

Zane smiled. She was still his Rikki.

* * *

The walk on the beach below Rikki's was quick. Zane hadn't realized how early the movie that he'd already bought tickets for would be, and after some more conversation by the splashing waves, they rushed off the the movie theater.

"What'll we be watching?" Rikki asked brightly.

"There's going to be a re-run of the Ring, we'll see that." Zane answered as he gave the tickets to a man.

"The Ring?"

"Yep, horror movie from 2002. It's like a remake of some Japanese movie."

"Oh." Although she had an extremely tough persona, she absolutely despised horror movies. She hated hating them; she had done so much of what the characters did in the movies, and sometimes more! But she couldn't stand just watching it. Despite this, she faithfully followed Zane into the theatre.

"The middle always has the best view, don't you think, Rikki-o?" he asked, oblivious to her feelings towards the horror genre.

"y-no! Why don't we sit in the back?" Rikki quickly said. _That way I can further away from the screen_ , Rikki thought to herself as she steered Zane to the back.

"Suit yourself," Zane chuckled, as they walked to the furthest end of the theatre.

When the movie started, Rikki tried to act as normal as possible, but she quickly realized that it was impossible to keep quiet. She couldn't slide into her seat like she would have if she had been five years younger, as Zane would notice. Instead, she had to just bare it. Every little movement on screen made her wince or internally scream. She closed her eyes tightly at the climax of the movie, gripping the arms of her chair. She was so absorbed in trying not to notice what was happening on the screen, that she didn't notice when Zane took her hand, and lightly held it the rest of the movie. When the film ended, Rikki leapt out of her seat. Zane quickly followed her still holding her hand.

"Let go my hand!" Rikki said, turning around.

He let go of it, but not before saying, "You seemed to like it during the movie."

Rikki didn't day anything, but she continued walking out of the theatre.

"Are you still up for the picnic at Mako?"

Although she once again didn't respond verbally, she nodded her head.

* * *

Rikki speed through the warm waters that surrounded Mako Island. She was in mermaid form, and above her, Zane was in his boat speeding towards the same location as she was with a full picnic. She felt free again as she realized that she hadn't been for a swim to Mako Island in almost a month. Rikki and Zane weren't going to meet at the moonpool, but by the shores of the beach, so she quickly landed and dried herself off. When Zane came, the two set up their picnic, and sat down to eat. By now, the sun had begun to set.

Rikki put her head down on the blanket, and closed her eyes.

"You're so beautiful," Zane whispered.

She pretended not to hear.

A few minutes later, she jumped up, and said, "We'd better be going now. Here, I'll ride in the boat with you."

They packed up the picnic, and jumped into Zane's boat. The rest of the ride was spent in an easy silence. When they got to the dock, Zane parked the boat and helped Rikki out.

"Well," Rikki said, looking into his eyes.

"Well," he answered leaning his head towards hers, almost kissing her.

"Not now, Zane," she whispered, gently pushing his head away. "Good night." She ran into the night.

"I'll see you tomorrow!" Zane called after her. Then he whispered to himself, "I love you, Rikki."

He packed up the rest of the picnic with a smile on his face.


	3. Day 3 - Packing or Unwanted Help

As soon as she hit the bed, Rikki fell asleep. She woke up the next morning with the wonderful feeling of having a good night of sleep. After getting dressed and freshening herself up for the day, Rikki walked into the kitchen. She had remembered that Zane had told her that he'd see her the next day the night before, and when she didn't see him in the kitchen, she felt almost disappointed. Nevertheless, she sat down and poured herself some cereal. She she poured milk on top of it, but as soon as it was all prepared, she suddenly didn't feel like eating it. Rikki stirred the mil slowly, looking into the bowl with a bored expression. Suddenly, her phone started ringing. She quickly picked it up, happy to have something to focus on.

"Hello?" Rikki asked into the phone.

"Hi, Rikki; it's Cleo," her friend answered from the other side.

"What's up, Cleo?" Rikki asked, spooning food into her mouth.

"Oh! Erm, I was just wondering, is Zane there?"

Rikki stopped eating. "No," she answered, a bit bewildered.

"Well, erm, if you see him, tell him that I said, 'hi!'"

With that, Cleo hung up, leaving a confused Rikki. Once again, Rikki didn't feel like eating, and promptly dumped her half eaten bowl of food into the trash. As she placed the dirty bowl into the sink, she heard a knock on the door. She walked to open it. She pulled the door open, and there stood Zane with a smirk on his face. Rikki panicked when she felt a happy little pit in her stomach open up. She quickly put her guard back up.

"What are you doing here, Zane?"

"What do you mean?" he asked her, unfazed.

"You know exactly what I mean, Zane. I didn't invite you to my place."

To this he simply smiled again, and asked her, calmly, "Can I come in, Rikki?"

Although she had just told him off for appearing with no warning other than things he had said the night before, she let him in.

"So, what do you want to do today?" Zane asked as if nothing had happened outside once they were sitting in Rikki's kitchen.

"I'm packing."

"Do you think you'll be able to get out at any time."

"Nope," she answered popping the 'p'.

"I'll just have to help you, then."

For once, Rikki couldn't think of anything to say, so Zane followed her to her bedroom.

"Heard from Cleo?" he asked her as she opened her bedrooms door.

"Yeah," she said. Why did Cleo want to hear about him, and then him about her? She shook off her confusion, and sat down at the bottom of her bed, and started folding clothing and throwing them into suitcases.

"So." She said, rolling up a blue t-shirt.

"So," he answered.

She grabbed a black dress, and began folding it up. Before she could toss it in her bag with all of her other things, she heard Zane ask, "Remember when you wore that dress to that awful lecture at the hotel?"

"Except that I didn't even get to hear 'that awful lecture' because I was... oh," she ended remembering the incident on the hotel with Zane so many years before.

"Yeah, 'oh'," Zane said with a small mocking smile on his face.

Like he had so many times the day before, he leaned his head towards hers. This time, Rikki didn't move away at the last minute, and her lips ended up on his. For a single second, Rikki felt almost perfect. She had forgotten how special Zane made her feel, and the way her whole body soared when he kissed her. With the kiss she felt a sudden bout of regret. Why had she abandoned this feeling? Had she been so prideful? She quickly shook off them, and threw herself into kissing him. This moment was for her and Zane, and it would NOT be ruined by any regrets. He gently leaned her beck onto the bed, and they slowly kissed each other, lying down. Rikki felt like she could kiss him forever, but before long they were interupted by Rikki's phone.

"Hello?" she asked, exasperated into the phone.

"Hi, Rikki. This is Cleo," Cleo answered, innocent to what she had just interupted.

"What," Rikki asked. Zane was still on top of her, looking very amused.

"Sorry, you're probably busy right now..." _That's right,_ Rikki thought. "But there's something important that I have to ask you. Is Zane there?"

"Yes, Zane is here."

"Okay, that's all."

"Can I hang up now?!"

Rikki hung up.

"Now," Zane said, starring down into her eyes. "Where were we?"

The couple continued snog, until they decided to go out for lunch. When they came back from that, they continued with what they had been doing before. By the end of the day, Rikki had barely packed a thing.

* * *

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